Thursday Throwback - Mrs. Jackie's Birthday

Mrs. Jackie's birthday - 8/8

Last year we did a sign in Mrs. Jackie's front yard for her birthday so again we did one this year. The boys helped color the sign.

 [The boys wore their baseball shirts!]

Later that day, we came back and gave her lots of hugs!

We love our Mrs. Jackie!

Gifts, Part 3

We have several special people in our lives that wanted to bless the boys with gifts. 

Our neighbors Mr. Robert and Mrs. Jackie have been in our lives from almost the first day we moved to Lebanon (believe it or not 12 1/2 years ago). We've been neighbors with them for 11 1/2 years so they've been with us during the highs and lows. They love seeing the boys and we check in with them when we get home several times a week. They blessed the boys with toys -- horses for Nathan and emergency vehicles for Zachy. They have loved played with them.

Another special person is Mrs. Mary. I worked with Mary until she retired and then have still kept up with her since then. Mary also has been with me during the rough times and she and her husband prayed for us to have children. Although Tony passed 4 years ago, he was able to meet Nathan and know the results of his prayer. Mrs. Mary gave gifts to the boys - a Lego set for Nathan and a riding car for Zachy. Again, they have loved these toys.

We're so glad to have these special people in our lives. I think I'll have one more installment from Christmas -- the fabulous lunch we had. Yum!

Celebrating

We got to join the Mosleys to celebrate their youngest's birthday. She is just a few months older than Zachy so they have been a great resource at times when we've been going through things.

 Doesn't this look fun? Her older sister had to blow out the candle.

The boys found a new toy that they l-o-v-e-d! A stuffed dog that shakes. Yes, seriously. A stuffed dog. Can we get away from the dogs?! :)

Chuckie E's Birthday

It's not Chuck E. Cheese. According to Nathan it's Chuckie E's. :)

Since the weather can be unpredictable in February, we decided that it would be best to try for a party at a location and since Chuck E. Cheese has pizza it was the logical choice.

 With Mrs. Dana, his teacher

 Watching the birthday video and Chuck E. Cheese visit

 With his friend Guy

 With Hudson

There were four friends who came (with lots of their family members), Nana & Papa, Ms. Lora, and a quick visit from Mrs. Dana. It was a great time and we were so glad that it concluded early enough in the day as it was getting super loud. Nathan got some fun gifts and thought it was a great time. Yay!

Cheesecake Yum!

My co-worker has a birthday today so I decided to make her favorite dessert for it.

 Nathan helped me a bunch with making the crust, using the rolling pin to crush up the graham crackers and walnuts.

It came out pretty good, don't you think?

(the brown crumbles are part of the crust)

She was super excited about the cheesecake and loved the decorations we put up at her desk. It was fun! Everybody thought it tasted great.

Celebrating Dana!

Dana (in the center with red on) just had her LAST cancer treatment yesterday.  So, a group of us took her to lunch to celebrate this 1 1/2 year process.  She'll still continue to take a daily pill for the next five years, but the monthly treatments are done.  Hurray!

Trip to Indiana

God allowed everything to work out for Nathan and I to go visit my dear friend from college who lives north of Evansville, Indiana.  She has some health issues which prevent her from traveling on her own so I've visited her and her family now for the second time.   It's been about 4 years since we last saw each other.

 She has three children - daughter in 6th grade, son in 3rd grade, and a son in 2nd grade.  Nathan loved playing with the older kid toys.  Her daughter loves horses and since that's one of Nathan's favorites right now, he was in heaven!  He carried around at least one with him the whole time we were there.

 Yee hah! 

He loved this horse and had figured out how to hold it with his thighs.

Not the most flattering picture, but here we are!  

Nathan was not happy.

Wilson County Fair, Part 1

I'm splitting up the pictures from the Wilson County Fair because I didn't want to confuse you with the two parts to the trip.  First, we went to support my good friend and neighbor Jackie.  She entered the Senior Ms. Wilson County pageant.

 Here she is sharing her talent - story telling.  She told a story about an experience she had with the treatment she was doing for breast cancer.

 Here she is all decked out in her beautiful dress.

Here she is with her family after winning!  

(Yes, it is a bouquet of carrots that she's holding.)

Supporting the Runners

We went to see my co-worker, Stephanie, in the Sherry's Run race this morning.  We rode our bikes down to West Main and watched the start and saw a bunch of people finish.  We didn't want to stay till she finished because we hadn't had breakfast yet and were hungry so we went down the street a ways till a street that was easier for us to return home on and waited for her.  It was fun to see all the people!  This was Stephanie's first 5K and without any training she did it in just under an hour.  Yay!

Happy Birthday, Dana!

Can you see what I did? 

 

D - Dasani, Dentyne

A - almonds

N - Nilla wafers, napkins

A - apple, Advil

 

Each day, I put up the next letter on her banner and added the day's items.  Then, today, we had her desk decorated and gave her a gift from the 3 co-workers.  Pretty fun!

A good friend

We were so saddened to hear that Mr. Tony Rayburn the husband of my good friend Mary from work had a heart attack on Thursday and passed away on Friday.  Please be in prayer for the family with this unexpected loss.

This is the picture that Mary gave me for Nathan's 1 year book.

Visiting

Look what I got to do last night!!!!

Meet Sofia Julianna Mosley!

My good friend Rick and his wife Irene just had their daughter Sofia on Monday.  Irene was diagnosed late in her pregnancy with gestational diabetes -- the tip off was that Sofia was weighing in over 10 pounds at her 32 week appointment.  Plans were quickly in place to schedule a Cesarean once they determined that it was going to be okay to have her.

I went on Monday to see them on my lunch break, but Irene had not gotten enough feeling back in her legs so she was still in the recovery room.  So, it wasn't till Wednesday that I was actually able to meet and hold Sofia.

Can't wait to spend more time with her!

Necklace

A good friend at work has been having some testing done on their quest to become parents.  She made a unique design to sell and help put toward the fees they were having to pay.

What a neat symbolism and something that is true about our quest -- Nathan was made with a lot of love!  You can see what other jewelry she has at her etsy store.  

A new friend

We had the pleasure of meeting a new little friend last night!  Some good friends just had their first child, a boy, on Monday.  We've been able to bless them with baby clothes since the arrival is the same part of the year that Nathan was.  He's a cutey!

A fun Saturday...

We had opportunity to visit with my boss (Mary, in the white shirt) this weekend as she has been longing to see Nathan.  Her daughter is pregnant and due in late January.  The last time her daughter & son-in-law saw Nathan was in the hospital so they just marveled at how big he was.

With Mrs. Mary & Mr. Alex

Serious face!

 Mrs. Mary loves Nathan!

 With Mrs. Jordan

 With his "man crush" - Mr. Dylan!

We had a great time! :)

A dream come true...

It has been a dream of mine to ride on a motorcycle. I think there was one other time that I rode with my uncle when I was very little, but I don't remember it so it doesn't count. Two years ago, my then boss, got a bike and I thought my dream was going to come true. But, time passed, then I was pregnant, and then today it happened:Since he only had one helmet, we just rode on West Adams to the cul-de-sac, and then back down to the ballpark. He only got up to 30 mph but it was amazing!!!! I can't imagine what riding on the interstate would be like.

Look at Little Bit on the bike:

One day, Baby, one day....

The Perschbachers

Our good friends, David & Judy stopped by for a quick visit today. They were in town from St. Louis to celebrate birthdays with their family who lives in the Nashville area.

They gave us a very cute outfit, two burp rags, and his first pair of shoes! Each of the items had his name on them (except for the shoes). So cute!

First Christmas Party (of the season)

For the first time (in 6 opportunities) I attended my work lady friends' Christmas party. Most Decembers Barry has been working overtime and I haven't had the gumption to attend the party. This year, since he was working 2nd shift, I knew I'd be alone and figured I'd make the most of it. The party was Friday, December 9. I'm next to my friend Kayleigh (who loves Rudolph - can you tell?!) that I usually work out with after work.
Here I am with Mary -- I worked with her for 3 years, but when our department was disbanded, we went to different departments.

It was a good night. We all were to bring a snack to share and an ornament that was $1 or less for a Dirty Santa exchange. It was pretty funny to see the ladies trying to get the ornament that they wanted. I was soooo hot that night that I ended up taking my Christmas sweater off. I think I'll go again!

Christmas Gifts for Co-workers

It's fun to be able to open up the Christmas gift tote and see what marvelous things I found discounted after Christmas last year. I had gotten a bunch of these beautiful mugs at least 4 years ago and have been slowly giving them away. Since I moved departments this year, I finally used up the last of those. Below is what I gave away: For each of the four that I gave, I included 2 packs of hot chocolate (BOGO at Publix and I had a coupon!), 3 pieces of Ghirardelli chocolates (that we had gotten as a gift), some Hershey Kisses, and a little something else -- fun chapstick, an ornament or lotion. The card is 3"x3" and I used Christmas paper to dress it up. I added a piece of red organdy ribbon and the person's initial with 3d tape. I wrote Merry Christmas! at the top and then a personal note on the back.
This particular gift was for a friend who loves snowmen! I adapted the above card to include a snowman instead of her initial and used different Christmas papers with white organdy ribbon.
Finally, these little cards went to a few of my other friends around the office. I used the packages to remind us that we have the greatest gift of all to remember - Jesus! I also gave them each some Ghirardelli chocolates. I used Christmas papers and some ribbon. Nothing too exciting, but they turned out pretty cute.